


On The Run

by AshWinterGray



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Arguments, Curious Eleven | Jane Hopper, Eleven | Jane Hopper Needs A Hug, Escape, F/M, Going To Europe, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, Kidnapped, Lots of Weird People, Making Friends, New Faces, Protective Eleven | Jane Hopper, Protective Steve Harrington, Running Away, Sick Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, Will Byers Needs a Hug, Will Byers' Art, but hinted at, dead bodies, lots of yelling, mother figure, not really a mystery, sick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 03:22:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18044540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshWinterGray/pseuds/AshWinterGray
Summary: Doctor Brenner is very much alive and wanting to take his subject back. He succeeds in taking Eleven, and manages to take Will after hearing of his possession too. After some time, Doctor Owens manages to save the two and reunite them with their friends and family. But they will not be safe anywhere, even less so in America. With no plans for his future, and a plan that had been in the works for sometime, Steve set off with the two to England. But how long can they remain safe? And will they find aid?





	On The Run

**Author's Note:**

> I did this in Steve's perspective, so I might write in Will and El's too and make this a three part book. Let me know what you think.

            “Mom!”

            “Hop!”

            “Will!”

            “Ah, kid!”

            One mother and one adoptive father were quick to embrace their children as they were reunited after a couple of weeks. El’s hair was shaved short again, and Hopper cupped her head, rubbing her head gently with a sad smile. Even Will was looking a little worse for ware, but clearly glad to be in his mother’s arms.

            Doctor Brenner, as they found out, had still been alive. And after a few months of talking to government officials, they let him kidnap El and Will. Thankfully, the two were rescued by their ally in Doctor Owens, who watched the reunion happily. Will was quickly shifted into Jonathan’s eager grasp as El flew into Mike’s arms.

            “Still pretty,” Mike assured, kissing her temple.

            “What do we do?” Hopper asked Owens. “We both know Brenner will keep coming after them.”

            “Yes,” Doctor Owens nodded.

            “We’ll hide,” Joyce stated firmly. “We’ll keep hiding. We’ll keep them safe.”

            Doctor Owens shook his head. “Hiding in the U.S. would make it easy for Brenner to find you. That isn’t a good idea.”

            “We can’t let them take them,” Dustin protested, already hugging Will tight between Lucas and Max.

            “And we’re not going to,” Steve stated firmly.

            The group watched as Steve pulled three passports out of his pockets. Suddenly, the backpacks that Doctor Owens insisted that Hopper and Joyce pack made sense. The meeting place location at the bus station was moving into place. As was Steve’s own packed back pack.

            “No!” Mike protested instantly. “You can’t just take them!”

            “Mike,” El whispered softly. “It’s the only way.”

            “No! You can’t! I just got you back again!”

            “Mike,” Will tried this time. “We’ll just get taken away again. We either go and be free or go and be trapped.”

            “You’ll just be on the run the whole time,” Max argued. “That isn’t freedom.”

            There was quite a bit of arguing, but Steve remained to the side, passports in his grip. Joyce eyed him before she finally pulled out of the crowd and towards him. Steve did not wavery under this fierce woman’s glare.

            “You promise to keep them safe?” Joyce asked gently. “To protect them.”

            “I promise,” Steve nodded.

            “Why?” Jonathan blurted out. “Steve, why are you doing this?”

            Steve shrugged. “I’m rather attached to this group of these nerds,” Steve stated with a grin. “Can’t let them die, you know. Besides, it’s not like I currently have plans for my future. Who better to watch them than a guy who cares for them and doesn’t have a life?”

            It’s meant to be a joke, but even they can hear the pain in Steve’s voice. Steve had clearly brought this up to Doctor Owens, and he had thought long and hard about it. Steve had come to this conclusion, and he was willing to follow through with it. That was all Joyce needed to hear as she pulled Steve into a hug. Jonathan was next to hug Steve as Joyce went to hug the two one last time. The bus was almost there.

            “You keep them safe,” Jonathan demanded into Steve’s shoulder, tears falling down his face. “You protect them. You hear me?”

            “With my life,” Steve swore.

            There wasn’t much time for many more goodbyes, so with quick hugs, Steve, El, and Will climbed onto the bus.

            “Remember,” Doctor Owens gripped Steve tightly. “You’ll be in the dark for the duration of the trip, but we can’t leave certain areas in the dark for two long. Don’t linger anywhere for too long.”

            “I know,” Steve nodded once and went to join the kids.

            If Steve had a choice in the matter, he would not have left like this. He would have left the group have a better goodbye, but there wasn’t much time left. The bus station was only sage for so long. As was the bus. So as Will and El settled next to each other and fell asleep, Steve kept an eye on them. He would sleep later. Perhaps on the plane. He would see later.

\-----------------------------------------------

            They ended up some place in London. Busy, staying with crowds. Doctor Owens believed that would be safer. Steve had a bank account he had opened and was trying to ration the money he got converted to European cash. There was a chance they would need to head to Asia, but they were on their own now. All three of them knew it. El and Will were taking everything in with interest, and Steve was just looking for a place to stay where they could be free. Perhaps an abandoned building.

            “Steve?” Will tugged at said guy’s sleeve.

            And that was something Steve was grateful for. Both Will and El were staying close to him. That was enough to ease Steve a little.

            “What’s up buddy?” Steve smiled down at the younger.

            “Can we get food?”

            And Steve had to wonder how long Will had been hungry. The last time they had eaten was when the hostess brought them snacks for the flight. It had been at least six hours since they had eaten. Steve gave a nod and steered them toward a burger joint. Both El and Will perked up a bit.

            “Have you been to Europe before?” the cashier asked them after Steve had ordered for them.

            “I have, a few times,” Steve nodded back. “Came with my parents a few times on business trips. Figured I’d take my cousins for a trip.”

            “That’s kind of you,” the cashier smiled. “Just head to the left, and you’ll get your food.”

            Steve nodded at the man and led the two to over to the waiting spot.

            “You kids okay?” the cook asked, and now Steve realized why the cashier was asking about them.

            Will nodded. “I’m okay.”

            “I called them my cousins,” Steve stated, making the two jerk their heads up. “But the truth is, we aren’t blood related.”

            El, ever the mind reader, clutched Steve tighter and looked at the cook.

            “Bad men are trying to hurt us,” El stated firmly. “Steve keeps us safe.”

            They got their food and sat to the side, keeping in the cashier’s line of sight, but out of sight of others.

            “Were they abused,” the cashier came up to them later, clearly on his break or getting out of work.

            “I don’t know all the details,” is what Steve decided on saying. “We just had to get them out of the states.”

            “You got a place to stay?” the cashier asked.

            “You offering?” Steve questioned.

            The cashier shook his head. Instead, he handed Steve some sort of business card.

            “This guy might help,” he stated firmly. “Might. He can be a bit picky. If you ever need anything, he could help.”

            Steve tucked the card away. “We’ll consider it.”

            They ended up staying the night in some abandoned building not too far from the burger joint. Even Steve was nervous about trusting this Mr. Anderson on the card that was given to him, but it might be an option. Might. If things decided to get bad.

            “You both alright?” he asked as the two kids huddled on either side of him in sleeping bags.

            There were nods, but no verbal answers. This was their first night away. Steve couldn’t blame them.

\--------------------------------

            The kept moving; kept finding knew places to stay in London. Only staying twice in some places if they could, but even that felt like a risk. Being on the run was terrifying for all of them, and Steve did his best to be cheerful, cracking jokes and telling stories.

            But even they knew time was short before they would get caught.

            They were at a bus station, risking a trip to Ireland to change location, when a hand grabbed Will and yanked. Will screamed bloody murder and some chap closer to Will’s captures managed to hit one of the men with a brief case. The moment Will was in Steve’s arms, the man told them to run as Steve grabbed El too and they watched several people try and stop the captors.

            British people were so nice.

            Steve was already booking it as some of the men broke free of the crowd. There were at least seven men, and three of those men broke free. Well, technically, four men had gotten through, but one of those four men had been tackled by at least eight different people. Then Steve was ducking into an alley way with the shouts from a group of women directing him.

            El and Will were clinging tight to him, so he felt when someone grabbed El’s ankle.

            “Steve!” she cried out.

            “Let her go!” Steve tried to deliver a kick.

            But someone else had grabbed Will, and the third man had already yanked Steve back. He screamed, but they were too deep in the alley for anyone to hear or come to their rescue. Or so Steve thought.

            “Geronimo!” a young voice cried, followed by the grunt of the man holding Will. “Get back you jerks!”

            The man holding El dropped her too, and a loud thwack hit the man holding Steve and he was released too. He scrambled to the two kids, eager to get them away, but whoever had saved them had grabbed Will’s hand.

            “Come on!” the person, clearly a boy around Will and El’s age, tugged the boy as Steve got a grip on El. “Let’s get out of here before they come too.”

            Steve was quick to grab the disregarded bags and follow after the two boys with El clutching his sleeve. She was terrified, and so was Will. But the boy was bright, sunny, and he seemed so sure of himself. It made Steve sag in relief. They ended up not hitting the main road, but instead ducked into a building’s side door that led into a kitchen.

            “Jeremy!” the woman who had to be the owner tutted. “What have I told you about bringing in strangers?”

            “They were attacked in an alley,” the boy, or Jeremy, protested. “I couldn’t just leave them there.”

            The woman rubbed her head and sighed. But she turned and offered a hand to Steve. “My name is Miranda Patterson,” she introduced. “And this trouble maker is Jeremy Donavan. But you’ve already met him.”

            “Steve,” he offered curtly. He’d just been attacked, there was no way he was going to give a last name. “This is El and Will.”

            “Oh my dear,” Mrs. Patterson gasped at the two. “What on earth happened to you both?”

            It was sad, really. Being on the run meant that they ate when they felt safe, which was rare, and Steve knew the two weren’t really sleeping because he wasn’t sleeping either. So Will and El looked pretty much the same as when they left the lab. Ragged, tired, and half-starved.

            “Rose!” Mrs. Patterson yelled up the stairs. “Rose, get down here!”

            Footsteps hit the stairs above them as someone named Rose raced down their stairs. The girl that appeared had to be Steve’s age, maybe a year younger. She took one look at the people in the room, blinked and then turned to Mrs. Patterson.

            “Set up three guest rooms, would you?” Mrs. Patterson stated as she began to check over Will. “And see about clothes. I think I got another donation box yesterday that might have something.” Mrs. Patterson switched to El. “Jeremy, see if you can’t figure out where Mr. Anderson put the medical equipment. And _read_ the labels. Who knows what that daft man did to the supplies? I’d hide it, but he always finds them.”

            Mr. Anderson? Steve took a moment to pull out the card to look at the name. He had no idea if this was the same Mr. Anderson, but he wasn’t going to say anything. The card, however, was quickly plucked from his hands as Mrs. Patterson began to check him over. Which was surprising, but then again, Steve hadn’t really looked in a mirror in a while.

            “Rose!” Mrs. Patterson called back up the stairs. “Get the bathtubs running too! Poor kids need it!”

            Steve decided he liked Mrs. Patterson.

\--------------------------------------------------

            Mrs. Patterson, Steve decided, was one of those women who acted tough, and probably was tough, but loved to take care of people. So the moment Steve, Will and El got finished with getting clean for the first time in nearly two months, they were presented with a fresh lunch.

            “Eat,” Mrs. Patterson shoved a full plate at Steve. “Honestly, you’re as skinny as the kids. Eat.”

            And from the looks Will and El were shooting him, they knew that he had been sneaking them food off his own plate for the last two months. He had been caught. He grinned sheepishly at the two as he began to take a bite. He couldn’t remember the last time he ate a full meal.

            “American, right?” Jeremy asked. “You definitely sound American.”

            Steve didn’t say anything. Neither did the kids.

            “Ah, the silent treatment,” Jeremy grinned at them. “That’s okay, Rose and Mr. Anderson can probably get it out of you. Though I’m sure you’re American.”

            Steve was not sure if he wanted to meet this Mr. Anderson, and he certainly wasn’t sure what to make of Rose. When they had gotten upstairs, Rose had given them each a once over, pursed her lips, and then led them to their new rooms before vanishing. Mrs. Patterson and Jeremy seemed kind enough, but Rose and Mr. Anderson were a mystery. And they still couldn’t trust anyone.

            “No questions now,” Mrs. Patterson scolded. “They just got here, and by the look of things, they weren’t intending to come here either.”

            “But they had the business card,” Jeremy pointed out.

            “Yes, but it has the sent of old burgers,” Mrs. Patterson pointed out, waving a spoon about as she prepared her tea. “They’ve clearly had it for a while.”

            Steve clenched his fists, suddenly not hungry. He was not willing to talk about this with anyone. He motioned for Will and El to keep eating though. There was no point in letting them starve themselves when food was being offered freely and without some sort of malice intent. They ate, but it was clear they were nervous by Steve’s new stance.

            “Relax,” a set of hands came down on Steve’s shoulder’s, making him jump. His attacker released a giggle, proving to be Rose. “No one here is going to hurt you, and no harm will come while you are here. You are safer in this house than you are anywhere else.”

            “You’ll understand if I don’t believe you,” Steve grit his teeth.

            “Of course,” Rose nodded, moving into Steve’s line of sight. “Even I can understand the worry and fear of being on the run. I did it once myself.”

            “I was held against my will and nearly murdered,” Jeremy pipped up. “Good times.”

            These people were nuts. Steve eyed them, but it was El’s gaze that let him know they weren’t lying. What had they gotten into?

            “I assume he won’t be home anytime soon?” Mrs. Patterson asked.

            “Beats me,” Rose shrugged nonchalantly. “He left without me this time. He could be anywhere.”

            “Then I suggest our new friends get some rest,” Mrs. Patterson insisted. “You can ask them questions later.”

            Steve was very grateful for Mrs. Patterson.

\------------------------------------

            When Steve woke up the first time, it was to let Will and El crawl into bed with him. That ended with a few tears, confessions of missing home, and eventually falling asleep again. The second time Steve woke up, it was to the sound of a loud bang, and Mrs. Patterson shouting at someone. Will and El bolted up beside him. Someone had clearly been in the room as there was clothes for each of them waiting. The shouting had stopped by the time they got downstairs.

            “Good morning,” Mrs. Patterson chirped a bit cheerfully. Nothing like what they heard moment ago. “Come, sit. Breakfast should be ready in a few minutes.”

            Rose and Jeremy were already present, pushing each other about and laughing a bit. They had to be siblings or something. But there was a man, sulking in a corner, who had to be Mr. Anderson. And the person Mrs. Patterson had been yelling at. Mr. Anderson perked up instantly as they walked into the room.

            “You must be the new residents,” he grinned, a little too eagerly. “I hear Jeramund found you in an alley being attacked. It must have been fascinating.”

            “Jeramund?” El questioned.

            “That’s me!” Jeremy waved. “Jeremy is short for Jeramund.”

            “And Rosaleigh is short for Rose,” Mr. Anderson nodded, clearly uninterested in this topic. “Now, these men in the alley. What can you tell me about them?”

            “Nothing,” Steve stated.

            “Certainly not nothing,” Mr. Anderson’s grin became excited. “You are quite interesting.”

            “Breakfast first,” Mrs. Patterson slammed a spatula down on Mr. Anderson’s head.

            Mrs. Patterson was officially Steve’s favorite person.

            Breakfast was tense, and Steve could practically see Mr. Anderson’s head working. He was not looking forward to letting Mr. Anderson pick at his head with questions. But Will and El seemed to have hit it off with Jeremy, and he was glad that they had made a friend.

            All too soon, breakfast was over, and the groups began to move.

            “We’ll take Steve,” Mr. Anderson hooked arms with Steve and Rose. “You and your new friends can help Mrs. Patterson, Jeremy.”

            There wasn’t much room for argument as Steve was yanked away. The sense of dread he felt was almost agonizing and suffocating at the same time. It made Steve release a gasp, and Rose instantly stopped them

            “You need to stop being so forward,” Rose scolded Mr. Anderson, keeping Steve from sinking to the ground. “Come on, Steve. Breathe. You are safe here. Your kids are safe here. No one will hurt you here.”

            A few minutes later had Steve sitting in a chair facing two separate chairs that quickly had Mr. Anderson and Rose. A cup of tea was in his hands too.

            “It’s alright,” Mr. Anderson sounded a lot kinder now. Gentler. “Just breathe. You’re alright.”

            After sipping the tea and a few breaths, Steve was only shaking. Which was definitely a shift from having been practically trapped in his own head.

            “Whoever wants you in those kids must be dangerous,” Mr. Anderson hummed. “You just had a panic attack. And by your reaction, this may not be the first.”

            “You don’t know what you are trying to get into,” Steve stated, trying to keep his voice steady.

            But Mr. Anderson leaned forward, as if he was tempting Steve to keep talking.

            “Try me.”

            Steve will never know what made him doing. Perhaps it was the fire in those words. Perhaps it was the pain in Rose’s face. It may have been Rose and Jeremy’s confession earlier. But Steve told them. About Will. About El. About the last two years. Everything.

            “Right,” Mr. Anderson pushed himself up. “You are all officially under my care. No excuses no exceptions.”

            “What?” Steve stuttered after a moment. “Under your care?”

            “Yes, under _my_ care,” Mr. Anderson grinned, pulling Steve up. “And that, my dear boy, is the safest place you can be in all of England. Well, Buckingham palace comes first, but I am a close second.”

            With that, Mr. Anderson went yelling out of the room. Mr. Patterson shouting back could be heard in the background.

            “What just happened?” Steve questioned.

            “You just got accepted under the care of one of London’s best detectives,” Rose explained with a grin. “Welcome to our odd family.”

            Steve could only blink in surprise and watch as Rose left the room.

\---------------------------------------------

            El, Will, and Jeremy were hitting it off as if they had been friends their whole life. It was clear their story had already been spread to the remaining two members of the house. Even El was enjoying this home life. Both still crawled into bed with Steve at night, whispering about home and family and friends they left. Steve thought about sending a postcard, but thought it was too risky. Mr. Anderson had refrained from asking any more questions, but everyone knew he was teeming with questions. Steve himself was trying to find his footing with Rose. It was an odd experience, as she was so head strong and eager. She reminded him of Nancy in some ways, but there were also ways she was different. Ways that made her uniquely her.

            “Our parents were murdered,” Rose told Steve one day. “I wasn’t home, and they took Jeremy. While he was surviving in a sort of child prison, I tried to find him. Then Mr. Anderson took me in, helped me find my brother. And we’ve been in his care since.”

            “And that’s how you became a detective,” Steve hummed back.

            “Call me crazy, but I can’t let go of the rush,” Rose chuckled dryly. “I realize it isn’t a healthy coping mechanism, but it does help me deal with the trauma.”

            Yeah, Steve could understand that. It was part of the reason he agreed to go with Will and El as their protector. The thrill of fighting monsters. The thrill of being on the run. It was exhilarating.

            “So what now?” Steve asked.

            Rose just kind of grinned. “We wait for a case.”

            They didn’t have to wait long. Three days after his short talk with Rose, which still left him questioning if they were actually friends or not, someone came in. A dying someone. Mrs. Patterson did not appreciate the blood on her carpet. And Steve, may or may not have tagged along with Rose and Mr. Anderson. And no, the culprit was not the butler. It was the secretary.

            It just kept happening. Someone would come with a case, Steve would tag along, the case would be solved with quite a few missteps. Even Jeremy, Will, and El would tag along sometimes. And sometimes the cases were just outrageous. Like the one where Mr. Anderson threw on a skirt.

            “Why are you wearing a kilt?” Rose questioned, covering El and Jeremy’s eyes as Steve did the same with Will.

            “Because we are going to Scotland!” Mr. Anderson cried, practically twirling around in his man skirt.

            And as if the situation couldn’t have gotten any worse, Mr. Anderson proceeded to pull bagpipes out of the broom cupboard. Mrs. Patterson managed to shoot the thing with her husband’s old hunting rifle before Mr. Anderson could make their ears bleed. This led to another shouting match between Mr. Anderson and Mrs. Patterson. But that was something that all five of the younger ones had gotten used too.

            “He looks great,” Will mumbled sarcastically.

            Jeremy let out a laugh, as El tried to hide her own giggle. Even one of the constables was holding back a chuckle. The man was very much dead, hanging upside down by his feet, looking as if he just saw a ghost. He was some higher up, not one Steve knew.

            “Right,” Mr. Anderson clapped. “Rose, Jeremy, why don’t you go take our new friends on a tour? See what you can find. Then we can regroup at Mr. and Mrs. Pennyweather’s house.”

            The two nodded and led the other three towards town. It was great while it lasted, but Steve caught it, and El and Will caught it. And Rose knew something was wrong because Steve was suddenly gripping her hand a bit too tightly. The fact he was holding her hand at all was a red flag.

            The men from London were here. In Scotland. And they had been spotted.

            Much to Steve’s surprise, Rose spun on the men as they got close and screamed.

            “They’re harassing me!” she screamed out. “Help! Please! They’re harassing me!”

            That was all the people needed to hear as all seven men were dragged back, and Rose tugged Steve and the three kids to a bus. The driver, who had heard the commotion, was kind enough to get them all out of there.

            “Creepy government people,” Rose all but cursed under her breath as she ran a hand through El’s hair.

            And Steve had to take a moment to observe the two kids that were in his care. El, her once short hair now long and going just past her shoulders. Steve was pretty sure she wanted to grow it out like Rose, who had her hair to almost the small of her back. And Will was almost as tall as he was, if not there. They’d grown up, and their parents would never see that. They ended up stopping at some tourist trap, and some dude offered to take their picture with a Kodak camera. Steve asked him to take a picture of Will and El, to which he guy obliged and gladly took the money for the picture.

            “I’ll mail it,” Rose smiled at him.

            The Pennyweather house was more like a mansion, way bigger than Mrs. Patterson’s house and his own home in Hawkins combined. Perhaps if you tacked on the Wheeler house, Hopper’s cabin, the Byers house, and maybe even the police station for good measure, you’d get something that was just twenty miles short of this house-mansion-thing. And he was not exaggerating.

            “Jeramund, Rosaleigh!” a woman who looked just as prim and proper as the house, descended the steps in a glide. “How wonderful to have you back.”

            What was it called, that cheek kiss thing? Steve wasn’t sure, but Rose did that with this woman, and Jeremy just let the woman practically suffocate him in a hug. Then she turned to Steve and his kids.

            “And you must be Steve, Will, and El,” she gushed. “I’m Miranda Pennyweather. Welcome to our home.”

            “As fun as these greetings are,” Rose interrupted. “We really do need to see Mr. Anderson. We ran into a slight problem.”

            Mrs. Pennyweather smiled at them and led them upstairs to a study where Mr. Anderson was pouring over some facts. Rose was the only one to enter the study, and the other four were taken to bedrooms. Steve was not allowed to help with this case and was confined to explore the mansion with the three youngest of the group. And when Steve saw Mr. Anderson again, he seemed furious. With what, Steve wasn’t sure. He didn’t ask, though. He didn’t believe he had the right just yet.

            They were back in London after three days.

\---------------------------------------

            They got into a fight, him and Rose. About what, he wasn’t sure, but Steve had stormed out of the house. Which had been a mistake. While they were with Mr. Anderson, they were untouchable. Leaving his care put him and the kids in danger. Which was exactly why Steve had not gone back to Mrs. Patterson’s house in nearly three weeks. It was foolish, especially since El and Will were bound to be worried. But he couldn’t lead the seven men back to the house. He’d barely managed to avoid the men himself, and he was pretty sure he killed one of them. His shaking hands still hadn’t let go of the gun.

            At the moment, he was leaned against a brick wall in some alley, breathing heavily and unable to focus on his surroundings. Which was not a good idea, but it wasn’t like he could control his panic attacks, even if he wanted too. The realization he had probably killed a man kept replaying in his head, and Steve found himself dry-heaving seconds later, still unable to breathe.

            It was as a hand grabbed his shoulder that he jerked and pointed the gun up to a person’s face, still not quite in his right frame of mind.

            “Woah there,” the voice tried to soothe. “Calm down man. I’m just trying to help. That was a real scare back there. Alright? I’m not a threat.”

            Steve felt himself sag as he began to curl into himself and sob.

            “Steve, right?” the man asked, rubbing his back gently. “I’m a friend of Mr. Anderson’s. He’s been looking for you.”

            Steve could only sob harder.

            Oh, boy,” the man hummed. “You’ve got a nasty fever. Come on, let’s get you home.”

            Steve’s body shook as the man lifted him up. He ended up on the man’s back, tucked carefully into his shoulder so he could rest.

            “Name’s Kennie, by the way,” he introduced with a soft, comforting voice that lulled Steve to sleep. “And you are lucky I found you when I did. Man, those guys were mad. I knew I had to get to you first.”

            Steve didn’t catch much else because he fell asleep tucked into Kennie’s shoulder and back. And when he came to, he was back in his bedroom in Mrs. Patterson’s home with Mr. Anderson sitting in a chair at his side. Steve opened his mouth but got shushed gently.

            “Rest, Steve,” Mr. Anderson whispered, soothing back his hair. “You’re alright. The kids are alright. Just relax.”

            The second time he woke up, Will was occupying the chair, a sketch pad in hand, and El was tucked against his chest as she read a book. He wrapped his arms around her waist and snuggled close.

            “Hi,” Steve whispered, his own voice a bit hoarse.

            “Hi,” El whispered back.

            Steve had never felt so content than in that moment. Will’s picture was of Steve sleeping. The picture had been framed in Steve’s bedroom a few days later. It took a while for Rose to come around, and she looked awful.

            “I forgive you,” Steve stated.

            Rose didn’t get the chance to say much else. Will and El were rather protective of Steve now. Not that Rose seemed to blame them.

\------------------------------------

            Steve was going to murder Will and El. Quite literally.

            “You can’t _do that_!” Steve shrieked at them. “Do you have _any_ idea what I-”

            He couldn’t do it, couldn’t say it. He just pulled them both close and released a pained sob. There was a case that Mr. Anderson and Rose were working on that had proven to be a bit too difficult to get information on. So, Jeremy had decided to get Will and El involved in his latest plan to help. It resulted in the getting kidnapped, and Steve had been in mother panic mode the entire three days they had been gone.

            “You can’t,” he whispered. “You can’t.”

            “Sorry,” El whispered into his neck, and when had she gotten that tall? “Really sorry.”

            Steve released a shaky breath and gripped them tighter.

            “I can’t lose you,” Steve whispered back. “Either of you. Don’t let me lose you.”

            None of them could promise that, and they all knew it. They weren’t even going to try either.

            “Happy Birthday to me,” Steve chuckled dryly.

            Will and El bulked in his arms. It took Steve a moment to realize that neither of the kids new when his birthday was today. It had never come up.

            “Today is your birthday?” El asked with wide eyes.

            “We left Hawkins on your birthday?” Will breathed out.

            And, oh, Steve hadn’t even been paying attention. He was officially twenty now. Huh, he was almost the legal drinking age in the U.S. Not that that had stopped him before. But that wasn’t the point. The point was that both El and Will were staring at him as if he was the one who had been kidnapped and rescued.

            “Why didn’t you say anything?” Will asked.

            “Friends don’t lie!” El screamed at Steve, pointing accusingly.

            “No,” Steve shook his head, holding up his hands in surrender. “No. I didn’t lie. It just never came up. I swear I didn’t lie.”

            “Why are we shouting?” Mrs. Patterson appeared in the door.

            Will pointed at Steve accusingly. “It’s Steve’s birthday and he didn’t tell us!”

            “It wasn’t important,” Steve tried to defend himself. He wasn’t very good at it. “We are still on the run. It wasn’t important.”

            Mrs. Patterson was staring at him now too. If Steve didn’t know better, he’d say he had just murdered the queen of England.

            “We celebrated Will’s birthday,” Mrs. Patterson pointed out. “We even gave El a birthday. Don’t you dare tell me your birthday isn’t important.”

            Steve’s hands were still up in surrender. His birthday had never really been that important back home either. This whole “freaking out because of a birthday” thing was new to him. He watched as Mrs. Patterson left the room, shouting out into the house. Steve was left alone, blinking in surprise.

            “Did you honestly believe your birthday wasn’t important?” Mr. Anderson questioned him closer to dinner. “Honestly?”

            Steve shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. I mean, it didn’t really see a need to say anything.”

            Mr. Anderson looked completely affronted by this and stalked away, muttering under his breath. Steve didn’t think anything of it.

            Steve had absolutely no idea how Mrs. Patterson did it in the window of time between dinner and the announcement of Steve’s birthday, but there was a lot of food. Like, a lot of food. Honestly, Steve couldn’t complain.

            This is what family felt like. Steve was sure of it.

            Steve had to put his foot down when Mr. Anderson tried to insist on buying presents for all twenty years of Steve’s life. They did not, in any way, have the money for that. Mr. Anderson did it anyways. It was a good thing they got a case the next day because they were nearly broke. Rose was relieved too and was once more trying to find a hiding spot for their pocket money. A very necessary thing to do, Steve had learned.

\------------------------------------------------

            Steve, at around the two-year mark, liked to consider himself friends with Rose. But it was still odd because Steve wasn’t always sure how to approach her. It hit him like a slap in the face when Will made an off-hand comment that he was smitten over Rose. And, darn it, the kid was right. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed it before. He had probably been smitten with her since the moment they met if his continued awkwardness was anything to go off of.

            So he started to make an effort to actually talk to her and not act awkward around her. It was safe to say, after that revelation, they were friends.

            “I am absolutely positive that this is not where that goes,” Steve stated as they both looked down at the body. “How do you even bend your leg like that?”

            “With a lot of force,” Rose grimaced. “Same with the arms and his head, and everything else going on with this poor guy.”

            Steve nodded as he looked at the body again. It had been shoved in a suitcase. Someone had smelled the stench from among the suitcases being delivered and checked to make sure nor one was shipping something illegal. The folded up body of some poor guy was not what the poor person had been expecting to find.

            “This man was shoved in his own suitcase.”

            Rose and Steve both jumped ten feet in the air, not literally, as Mr. Anderson began to speak from behind them.

            “Remind me to kill him,” Rose mumbled as the man sauntered away.

            “I’ll hide the body,” Steve grumbled back.

            The two of them quickly followed behind Mr. Anderson, and Steve continued to press down his affections. The case was solved, time went on, and teaching the younger three card games was interesting. Poker was out. El was good at reading people, and they still weren’t sure if she was using her powers or not. So they were playing Old Maid that particular time. El, Jeremy, and Will had been whispering all night.

            “You both should date,” El stated suddenly, earning panicked whispers from the boy’s. “Really. You should date and stop causing us pain.”

            Steve blinked, Rose had stopped breathing, and the boys were still panicked. But El just kept staring.

            “Okay,” Steve shrugged.

            This was followed by him leaning over and kissing Rose dead on the mouth. And don’t worry, they actually talked about it later. Steve went back to being a bit awkward around her, but she didn’t mind. She was awkward too.

\--------------------------------------------------

            No one was sure how it happened. Five years after the runaway of Steve, Will, and El, news reached them that Doctor Brenner was dead, and all of his projects had been exposed and shut down. Joyce had begged Doctor Owens to find her son, but the man had lost all contact with Steve after they vanished into the streets of London. They had no contact in the last five years. The news itself had brought the group home from their colleges, and they had all gathered at the police station to interrogate Hopper. But even Hopper had nothing on his daughter and the boys. The group decided to hit the Byer’s house, disappointed and exhausted.

            None of them expected to see Will, El, and some guy they didn’t know sitting on the couch. Nor did they expect to find Steve, a girl, and a man around Joyce’s age sitting at the table.

            “Mom!” Will grinned as he launched into his mother’s arms.

            “Will,” Joyce breathed as her son barreled into her. “Will.”

            “I’m here,” Will hummed back. “I’m right here.”

            El was being cradled in Hopper’s arms, Mike hovering close in order to take her the moment Hopper let go. Even Dustin, Lucas, and Max were charging towards Steve. As tears and laughter were exchanged, it was Dustin who noticed something a bit different about Steve.

            “You’re married!” Dustin exclaimed, gripping the hand with the gold band glinting freshly on his finger.

            “Yeah,” Steve grinned, using his other hand to guide Rose forward. “As of the last two years. This is my wife. Rosaleigh Donavan Harrington.”

            “And as much as I love bright reunions,” Mr. Anderson interrupted. Though Steve had to scoff, and Rose rolled her eyes. “We do have some things to discuss. After all, you probably want to keep your children with you for as long as possible and we simply have to close up a few loose ends.”

            Steve chuckled as Joyce and Hopper exchanged nervous looks. They honestly had nothing to worry about. He would be there to fix loose ends with Rose. But it was good to be home.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I told you guys a while ago that I was working on two full length stories. Well... those fell through. Do not be afraid! Two new stories have popped up, and they are going far better than the first. Not to mention, one of them may have at least four books. So, here we go. I will try. One, of course, will be about Steve (and he will be getting friends! Good, helpful friends!) And the second will actually be about Holly Wheeler. So I will try to post a one shot when I get closer to posting.
> 
> Last thing: is anyone here in the Merlin fandom? I found my old DVD's for the five seasons and have gone back into a phase.


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